109 President Ferdinand Marcos, "The PMA Graduates:
The P i l l a r of
our Nation's Strength and Security", Speech on graduation day at
the Philippine M il it a r y Academy, Baguio, 18 February 1980, p. 4.
110 See section on "Philippine Policy on Cambodia" in Chapter 10,
to the ASEAN region111 continued to dominate Malaysian p o l i c y even a f t e r the refugee c r i s i s of 1978-79 and the invasion of Cambodia, both of which were seen in some Malaysian quarters as highly de let er iou s to national and regional s e c u rit y. O f f i c i a l statements continued to r e i t e r a t e Foreign A f f a i r s ' b e l i e f th a t Vietnam had no plan " t o overrun
11?
weak nations in Southeast Asia".
In c o n tr a s t , the M i n i s tr y of Home A f f a i r s and the Defence M i n i s t r y took the idea of a Vietnamese th r ea t more s e r io u s ly . Ghazali Shafie, the Home A f f a i r s Minister (with r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r i n te rn a l s e c u r i ty ) did not envisage a d i r e c t Vietnamese th r e a t to Malaysia, but was nevertheless concerned that Hanoi would intervene in northeast
113
Thailand. In Ghazali's view, any serious Vietnamese aggression
towards Thailand seemed sure to a f f e c t Malaysia adversely - -
p a r t i c u l a r l y as i t would imply the dive rsion of Thailand's m i l i t a r y a t t e n t i o n away from i t s southern border, where cooperation between the two c o u n tr ie s ' armed forces against the Communist Party of Malaya's g u e r i l l a s was essential from Kuala Lumpur's viewpoint.
Although the Defence Ministe r claimed in the wake of the invasion of Cambodia th a t "the s i t u a t i o n in Indochina did not pose an immediate
111 Personal interview with senior o f f i c i a l , M i n i s t r y of Foreign A f f a i r s , Kuala Lumpur, Apri l 1981.
112 According to Foreign Mi nister Rithauddeen, 4 A p r i l 1980, reported by Agence France Presse (Hong Kong) in English, 1153 gmt, 4 A p ri l 1980 (FBIS-APA-80-068, 7 A p ri l 1980).
113 Ghazali made t h i s e x p l i c i t in a speech in A p r i l 1979. See Ghazali Shafie, "The ASEAN Countries and Indochina" (Text of an address at Conference on Southeast Asian Banking and Finance organized by The Financial Times, Singapore, 19 A p r i l 1979), p. 19.
114
th r e a t to Malaysia", l a t e r declarations by senior Malaysian
m i l i t a r y fi g u re s tended to r e f l e c t less o p t i m i s t i c assessments. In mid-1980 the Chief of Armed Forces S t a ff described the re gi on 's p o l i t i c a l s i t u a t i o n as "uneasy" and asserted that "external dangers" a r i s i n g from p o l i t i c a l upheavals in Southeast Asia were a challenge to
115 be ranked with the c o u n tr y' s in te rn a l s e c u ri ty problem.
The armed forces may, however, have exaggerated t h e i r concern - - which included preparations f o r "any e v e n t u a l i t y " ^ - - in order to support t h e i r demands f o r increased defence expenditure with which to finance large-scale expansion and modernization.
Indonesia
The Indonesian government saw less danger than any of i t s ASEAN counterparts as a r e s u l t of the invasion of Cambodia. I t seemed clear to the Indonesian leadership tha t at i t s present stage of development
Vietnam could not threaten Indonesia even i f i t wanted to ,
p a r t i c u l a r l y in view of Hanoi's extremely l i m i t e d c a p a b i l i t y f o r 117
maritime warefare. In the view of A li Murtopo, the powerful
114 Datuk Abdul Taib, quoted by Kuala Lumpur in English f o r abroad,
0830 gmt, 14 January 1979. (SWB FE/6020/A3/9, 19 January 1979).
115 General Sany, quoted by Asian Defence Jou rna l, No. 6/80
(November-December 1980), p. 14.
116 According to Brigadier-General Datuk Mohamed Ngah Said, Deputy Chief of the Royal Malaysian Ai r Force, Asian Defence Jou rnal, No. 6/80 (November-December 1980), p. 14.
117 Personal inte rvie w with Dr K i rd i Dipoyudo, Head, Department of Int e rn a tio n a l Relations, Centre f o r St rategic and Int e rn a ti o n a l Studies, Jakarta, 7 A p r i l 1981.